A senior specialist for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said that the six month ban established by Macau’s new imported labour law could be “a case of discrimination” for migrant workers. In an interview with Macau Daily Times, Tim De Meyer, senior specialist in international labour standards and labour law of the Subregional Office for East Asia, pointed out that there is no black and white approach for the Macau migrant workers’ complaints and advised them to pay attention to the results of the new law in practice. Continue reading ‘Migrants in Macau: a ban may be discriminatory’

Thirteen-year-old Lica de Guzman sang at the makeshift stage at the Place des Nations, during a gathering to commemorate Domestic Workers’ Rights. De Guzman had a very impressive voice. In fact, she had just signed a contract with Universal Records in London, and her first album will be released later this year. De Guzman’s Filipino parents, Joy and Nicanor, have been working as domestic helpers in Geneva for the past 20 years. Continue reading ‘Decent work for domestic workers: A way out of sustainable poverty’

An interesting analysis of these days’ wave of labour unrest in China and of the potential role of freedom of association and collective bargaining.

By Anita Chan*

Workers of several factories in Guangdong province have been drawing global attention over the past couple of weeks. First, there were reports of workers jumping to their deaths in a factory of Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer. Around the same time, some 2,000 workers went on a two-week strike at a Honda component manufacturing factory, halting production in four Honda assembly plants.Continue reading ‘China, labour unrest and role of unions’

Po Po has been enduring long hours of hard work, poor pay and abuse within the confines of her employer’s home for the past seven years. Poverty forced her to leave her family in eastern Burma and abandon a university education to work as a domestic helper in Thailand. “There is constant uncertainty about a domestic work,” said the 25-year-old in an interview with IPS. “In my last job, I worked for 11 hours a day, but I had to be available for 24 hours if my employer needed me.” Po Po is one of scores of domestic helpers in Thailand who stand to gain from the combined efforts of migrant rights advocates and the International Labor Organization (ILO), a United Nations tripartite body, to raise the profile of domestic workers this year. Continue reading ‘Migrant domestic workers’ rights next on ILO’s agenda’